


Last Horizon

by GhostClimber



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: A New Beginning, End of the Road, Introspection, M/M, Sentimental, adult love, teenage love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:06:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25145158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostClimber/pseuds/GhostClimber
Summary: Squalo has been saved after his loss against Yamamoto, during the conflict for the Vongola Rings.Dino is watching over him at the hospital, and he suddenly wakes up...
Relationships: Dino/Hibari Kyouya, Dino/Superbi Squalo, Superbi Squalo/Xanxus
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	Last Horizon

-Go and get yourself a few hours of sleep, Romario. I'll stay.- Dino said, leaning against the wall in that cold hospital room. He refused to look at the person who was in the bed, surrounded by machines that little by little were putting him back in contact with life.  
-You sure, Boss?- Romario asked; Dino saw in his eyes the hope for a positive answer and, honestly, he hoped, too, to be able to send him away.  
-Sure. Go, or tomorrow you won't be able to stand up.- Romario thanked profusely and left the room. Left alone with the young man laying in the bed, Dino sighed.  
His heart was beating so strong he felt it bouncing in his jugular, he perceived it pulsing at a crazily fast rhythm.  
He got closer.  
Superbi Squalo was gorgeous, even if barely dead. More, his skin's paleness, more pronounced than usual, gave him the looks of a Greek statue. His place would have been a museum, at the center of a room, so that anyone could admire him and enjoy his beauty and go away with the bittersweet sensation of having left a piece of their soul in that incomparable masterpiece.  
Dino moved a lock of hair from his face, unveiling his bandaged forehead; under his fingertips he felt the rough touch of the barely healed cuts; Ivan, with his Sun Flames, had cured him at his best, but his wounds were so severe that he couldn't manage to heal them for good. For the whole process, which had gone on for hours and had left Ivan worn out, Dino had made nothing but drinking gallons of water and going back and forth from the toilet. Romario, very kindly, had suspected that his reaction was a nervous one, but he had avoided to ask anything: after all, he knew well how much time it took Dino to step over the tormented relationship he had had with Squalo in Hish School, and as the wonderful friend he was he had avoided to risk that any comment could bring back the old pain.  
Dino listened to the machinery regularly beeping, keeping his blood pressure and heartbeat under control, then he abruptly turned his back towards Squalo and got to the door; he locked it. He wanted to stay at his side, hold his hand and pretend that between the two of them there still was something, maybe that love he always wanted and that he had never been sure to have, not with Xanxus existing in the world. And he didn't want anyone to come in and disturb.  
He went back and sat on the uncomfortable plastic chair at the side of Squalo's bed, and after a clear hesitation he caressed his left arm.  
His stump, unscathed but bandaged with anti-pain medicament, reminded him of the day when that crazy swordsman had appeared at his door, his arm clenched against his chest and an euphoric expression on his face: -Now I'm on the same level as the Sword Emperor! I can beat him honestly!- he had yelled, just before passing out.  
-How many times do I have to patch you up, huh, Squalo?- Dino asked in a low voice, leaning his face on the bed's edge. Squalo's skin had a peculiar smell, not coming from any beauty product; it was not ascribable to something immediately identifiable, but it evoked long spring nights spent reading in silence, while the fire burns in the chimney and the rain falls non stop outside the window. A melancholic smell, in harmony with Squalo in his intimacy: never completely satisfied with himself, always the first to doubt himself, a tiny beggar that looks inside the window of a toys' shop, hoping to have at least one, but nonetheless conscious that it wouldn't happen: if anything, he would have been sent away by the owner, with the accusation of dirtying the glass. But still someone who was proud of himself being a renegade, a kid that kept going back to the same shop to watch the same toy, aware that sooner or later they would stop sending him away, and somehow sire that sooner or later his determination would have led him to obtain the object of his desires.  
Squalo, as a boy, had always perceived himself as dirty and useless. He never stated that loud, obviously, for he also was proud and stubborn, but Dino recognized the symptoms: his lowering his head as soon as someone raised their voice, as if he expected to be hit, on to his final devotion towards Xanxus Vongola, to whom he had left his role as Varia Boss, forcing himself to the lower grade of Vice Commander.  
Xanxus. Damn Xanxus.  
And yet. Dino could hate him, egoistically, for having stolen with his mere existence the heart he had tried to conquer step by step, but he couldn't hate him for what he had turned Squalo into. From being nothing more than the latest mafia trashboy, the albino loser who hung out with that Cavallone idiot just because no one else gave a shit about him, he had grown up day by day, becoming the fierce swordsman he had always wanted to be.  
Dino would have wanted to believe he had been the one to inspire him, and for a while he even managed to convince himself it was so: after Squalo had the good thinking of cutting off his left arm like the Sword Emperor before acknowledging that the latter was not left-handed like him, he had minimized the thing, he hadn't called him names as he had wanted to and even more, he had encouraged him, he had declared himself sure that Squalo could beat Tyr and conquer his title... even if when he saw him try to write with his stupid hand he could only think that that weirdo was a pitiful show. But, once again, he was not in the position to judge him: the first readable thing that Squalo had written was a message for him “Thank you for everything, Dino. I'll love you forever.” and Dino still held it dear. Even though it was pretty clear that it was a lie.  
What wasn't a lie, instead, was that to him seemed to be so. Only now, ten years after their first encounter, he finally seemed to see the possibility to move on and go on with his own life. And here he was, that idiot, risking his life once again; Dino, who had set the security mechanism only for the not-so-far scenario of Yamamoto being defeated, could have washed his hands of the matter. He went so far that, when Romario had delicately asked what were they supposed to do if Squalo had been the one to be defeated, Dino had instructed him to let him die, assuming in a bland voice that his life was not a matter of their interest.  
Obviously, when Squalo had fallen into the water and Cervello had announced the release of the sea monster, Romario had disobeyed with no hesitation: if there was a true blessing in Dino Cavallone's life, that was that man.  
For sure, not that half-dead crazy dude, that cocky with his blades that after having defeated Tyr had appeared at Villa Cavallone with a huge smile on his face, the title of Varia Boss and Sword Emperor in his pocket and a huge desire to celebrate by rolling themselves on the bed all night long.  
“He came to me. To me, not to Xanxus.” Dino had repeatedly told himself during those never ending yet short hours of madness. Of course, Xanxus was already frozen, but that never stopped Squalo from showing him his devotion and Dino could well picture him talking with a human Popsicle hoping he could melt it. Not that they ever touched the subject, of course, Dino always tried to avoid even pronouncing Xanxus' name, dreading that it could give Squalo the ball rolling to end their relationship: thing that, in fact, eventually happened, after almost three years.  
-Dino...- Squalo screeched from the bed. He smacked his lips and the blonde saw that they were dry and broken; he took an ice cube from a tray on the bedside table and put it on his mouth for him to suck it up. Patiently, he waited for it to melt, without saying a word, just thinking at Squalo's extraordinary speed of recovery: about twenty-four hours before he had lost all the blood a human can shed without dying, and yet here he was, already waking up from his coma and recognizing the person who was breathing on his skin.  
-Are you in pain? I can raise your morphine.- Dino said.  
-I'm not. How come I'm not dead?  
-We took you out.- silence fell. Squalo had closed his eyes again, but his short breath made it clear that he was still awake.  
-Thank you, but it's wasted time.- he eventually said.  
-Why that?  
-Because Xanxus is gonna kill me anyway, since I've lost.- Squalo looked away, moving his head with stiffened gestures, and Dino got closer. Loathing himself for the tremor he felt in his own throat and that he knew would pass on to his voice, he said: -I can protect you. I'll take you away, I won't allow him to hurt you.- Squalo smiled with half his mouth.  
-Thank you, but no thanks. I'd rather die than live a half life.  
-Xanxus won't become the Vongola's Boss. I won't allow it.- Dino incoherently promised.  
-No, he won't. But you won't have to get your hands dirty.- Squalo replied.  
-What do you mean?- Dino asked. Squalo raised his arm and weakly gestured him to come closer; the blonde got to his bedside and bent over him.  
-Xanxus is not Timoteo's son.- Squalo muttered. Dino stared at him and saw in his eyes the determination of being at his side come what may, even if his historic promise of helping him become the Tenth Vongola Boss had been revealed to be incoherent.  
-Even if he wins, the Ring will reject him. Someone, not us, must have forced Timoteo to decide that Xanxus will be his heir. But it won't work.  
-Does Xanxus know?- Dino whispered. Squalo's breath tickled his lips, and he knew he couldn't resist for long without kissing him, but the question had to be asked.  
-Yes. I heard him telling it to the Ninth, just before being frozen. But he wants to try anyway.- Squalo's hand caressed Dino's cheek, -I was there, even if no one saw me, and I have heard everything.  
-So, why then...?  
-Because I know how much determination is worth, when you're a renegade that everyone looks down on. And I admire his. As I had admired yours.  
-Mine?  
-I heard you too, when you accepted your role as your father's heir.- Dino blushed. He remembered a bad argument with Reborn, at the end of a long day at school preparing for the exams and furnished by a bad fight with Squalo. Something, in the killer's unfazed voice, had made him snap, and he had exploded from thin air.  
-“Alright, I see I have no choice. I'll be the Tenth Cavallone Boss, but I'll use my power to make the world a better place and to avoid that arrogant pricks like you set the terms and set the agenda.”- Squalo quoted by memory, then his lips curved in a smile: -I would never believe that someone would have had the guts to call Reborn an arrogant prick. And made it out alive, no less!  
-So, the fact that you left my life that very day means you didn't feel like attending my funeral?- Dino asked, almost joking.  
-What do you think happened to the Incognito?- Squalo asked. Dino straightened his back, getting back to a secure distance. Squalo's hand fell back on the blankets.  
-I only know that Reborn shot a bullet in their boss' head, but I don't know when nor how.  
-In the backyard of Cavallone Mansion, under the treehouse. The twelfth of March, four years ago, on the fifth anniversary of your father's death. There was a note on my present, but I guess Reborn failed to give it to you.  
-What was on it?- Dino asked, astonished.  
-I don't remember my exact words. Something like a promise that that would have been the last time I set the terms and set the agenda.- Dino opened his mouth to talk, but Squalo went on: -Yes, I know, I don't have a good relationship with promises.- Dino barely smiled. It was true, and those defensive manners were just like Squalo: he had always carried the idea that if you're the first to joke about yourself, then the others would have nothing left to scorn. It worked, in fact, but Dino had never been so confident to try it himself. He couldn't help but see himself just as a chronically goofy who was standing in a place that was too important for the person he was, a loser who had managed to fall in love with Superbi Squalo even knowing so well that he already was in love with Xanxus.  
In his brightest moments of optimism, in those days when he went to bed decided to begin a new life right from the day after, he repeated to himself that even if he was goofy and naive he had made better the lives of many orphans from the mafia, that he had fixed the Cavallone's finances and used the too much money he had found himself with to pay for the studies for children in the orphanages. And that even if Squalo did love Xanxus, it was in his arms that he went looking for love.  
But the dark of night always came to remind him that money doesn't buy happiness, that he hadn't accomplished anything to morally justify his position as a mafia boss, that going to meet some children he couldn't assure them safety or a good life, and that in the end Squalo had left him and was now fighting side by side with Xanxus. And more than that, he had left him the title of Varia's Commander, while he never wanted to leave Dino even a single slice of pizza.  
-Dino, are you lost in space?- Squalo asked, and Dino blurted: -Don't talk to me like that.  
-VOI, calm down, I didn't say an...  
-You used that phrase when we were together.- Dino said, -You don't have the right to use it again.  
-But we didn't really ended it, didn't we?- Squalo whispered.  
-We argued for Xanxus and you went to him. I... I'm no more the stupid boy following you hoping you left me a crumb of love. I know so well you love him, and I am not willing to ignore it.  
-Then, let's end this. Here. Now.  
-What do you mean?- Dino asked. He felt in his heart he had understood perfectly, but it seemed too good, too fallen from the sky to be true.  
-Let's make love for the last time.- Squalo's demand, even if pronounced in a dim voice, echoed among the walls of the room. Dino hesitated.  
-I'm falling in love with someone, I think.- he eventually said  
-Glad for you.- Squalo replied, -Does he love you back?  
-He wants to bite me to death.  
-VOI. How romantic.  
-What I mean is...- Dino began, but Squalo interrupted him: -Are you afraid you're gonna fall back in love? Reopen old wounds?  
-No. What I'm saying, I won't be your whore while you go after Xanxus. We can make love, but then I don't want you appearing at my place at two in the night, begging for a shag.- Squalo opened his mouth to protest, but closed it right after. Dino read in his eyes that he had meant to tell him that he never begged for anything, but they both held the memory of the times that Squalo had invited himself with no warning and had entered Cavallone Mansion without speaking, only with the desire of having sex. And they both knew that these encounters were always following Squalo's visits to Xanxus, while the latter was imprisoned in ice and so unable to communicate. Yes, there were also nights out, candle light dinners, summer evenings spent making love in the fields and complaining about the insects, but those encounters of consolatory sex were an clear reality and they surely had contributed to make their relationship rot.  
-Come here, Dino.- Squalo said.  
-First, you promise.  
-VOI! I promise, I promise, but now come here!- Dino got closer and looked at his wounded body: -I'll have to do everything alone.  
-Don't underestimate Superbi Squalo!- Dino rolled his eyes, then climbed on the bed and cautiously sat astride his pelvis. Squalo's erection pressed against his trousers, and Dino leaned down to kiss him; at the last moment, meanwhile, he hesitated.  
Squalo's hand went up and sunk in his blond mane, and the swordsman firmly pulled him closer. The sensation of the other's lips on theirs was a balm for both, a long desired touch, a door that had been left open and then lost that finally seemed to be back on their paths. They both perceived that they would not fall back in the sick relationship they had had in high school: but on that bed, eventually they would be able to close that door left open for too many years.  
Their tongues found themselves and tied up, while their heavy breaths mangled, discovering once again the old chemistry of their dancing bodies. Squalo hugged Dino, then jumped for the pain to his broken ribs.  
-Slow down, you idiot.- Dino whispered, leaving his lips. He straightened his back and took off his shirt and sweatshirt, throwing them both on the bedside table. The water jug toppled, but luckily it didn't fall: the noise would have attracted someone.  
-I was wondering how you still didn't have any accident...- Squalo commented, his voice broken. His erection pressed and pulsed against Dino's testicles, replying to any of his movements, even the imperceptible pushes of his breath.  
Dino didn't answer. Paying attention, and cursing his own clumsiness, he took off his pants without getting off the bed, then he raised the edge of Squalo's scrubs while getting again astride his thighs; his mighty erection was a show as familiar as comforting: under a certain point of view, it was an additional sign that the man was rapidly healing.  
Squalo got a hold on Dino's virility and his own and began to masturbate both; the monitor signaling his heartbeat started to register a slight tachycardia.  
-Do we risk someone to come and check?- Squalo asked, heavy breathing.  
-No, unless you go over 150.- Dino answered; bent forward with both hands at the sides of Squalo's head, he grabbed the pillow as if it was a matter of life or death, then he pushed himself on and straightened his back. Squalo barely moaned and held his pelvis closer, causing their testicles to collide; Dino let out a slight yiff.  
-VOI! Did I hurt...- Squalo's sentence was interrupted by Dino, who put his finger in his mouth; the swordsman wet them the best he could with his saliva, then went back to masturbate them both while Dino prepared himself.  
Cavallone's Tenth boss felt vulnerable. Vulnerable and at the same time as powerful as the pillars of the earth. He was about to have Squalo inside him one last time and the outlook, far from scaring him and making him dread a comeback of desire, only felt like a logical ending for that relationship that had meant so much for them both.  
Only now, while he was working to loose up his own flesh, trying not to weight too muck over Squalo's still wounded thighs, with the whispered echo of his voice thundering in his ears, he realized he had been a major model to that nutcase killer. Because it was him the one Squalo went looking for, and not because he was sure he would be welcomed: as gorgeous as he was, it would only took him a snap of his fingers to have anyone he wanted. Squalo looked for Dino because he knew that there he would find someone who loved him not only for his public figure, bold and superb and ruthless, but also for those small, dark corners of his conscience: the tiny shadows of insecurity that sometimes emerged in the privacy of their bedroom, the slight sparks of tenderness he kept for him and him only and yes, even the pain for Xanxus' conditions.  
Squalo looked for Dino because only with him he could strip his soul naked without the fear of showing weakness and thus putting himself in danger. And the same did Dino, worn out by the weight that had been discharged on his young shoulders after his father's death, weakened by his own being clumsy and insecure and too meek to survive as a mafia boss: when he was with Squalo he took off all the exaggerate poses, all the remorse, just to be himself and nothing more.  
He held Squalo's wrist in a mute request of stopping. The swordsman let go of his penis, only keeping his own in position, and with an only movement Dino went down on it.  
The pain that accompanied the entering of Squalo's virility in his flesh, which for too long had been struggling to have that contact, was like the sting of disinfectant on an open wound: for too long, Dino had pretended it was all over, that he didn't give a damn about Squalo anymore or, maybe, he cared only if he got in the way. Nothing was over, and for years they had been carrying around that dying feeling, like a painless cyst that sooner or later will have to be incised, so old that was like a part of them.  
And Dino let himself being incised to the core, he pushed himself against Squalo's pelvis and drank the “VOI!” that the latter exhaled, feeling the contact becoming so deep. Then he lifted himself up of a few inches, his eyes piercing Squalo's, which were full of expectations; he saw him holding his breath, then huffing it out again when he went down again.  
Little by little, savoring every second, Dino sped up the rhythm. Squalo's arms went to his knees and held them against his hips, and the blond smiled: it was an old habit, born after he had accidentally demonstrated that falling from the bed in such a situation was really painful and left with a large number of questions to answer to anyone who came to investigate what was going on.  
Comforted by the touch of his arms against his lower leg, and his left hand gently holding his calf, Dino slowed down, imposing a loose, sensual rhythm to their intercourse. He bent back, leaning on one hand posed between Squalo's thighs, and with the others he grabbed his own virility and started to masturbate. Squalo's glans suddenly pressed some sensitive spot beneath him and Dino controlled the pressure with extreme caution. The climax arrived for both almost together; Dino ejaculated in his own hand and let himself fall on Squalo's virility. He felt his own flesh loosen and cracking, and then burning at the contact with the other's semen, who had spilled over into him with a subdued and almost growled “VOI”.  
Dino allowed himself a moment to catch breath, while Squalo's cardiac monitor slowly went far from the alarm range they had dangerously brushed; then, cautiously, he got up and welcomed the sensation of Squalo's penis slowly leaving his body, with no pain, only with a tiny sting of bitterness.  
He vaguely remembered something useless learned reading: the French call the orgasm “la petite morte”. And the end of their intercourse was a death altogether, but after all not a tragedy. It had been like having the precious opportunity of taking in one last, deep breath before your lungs decided not to work anymore, a wondrous swansong that had accompanied the passing of what was left of their love, if of love you could talk about, and not a mere teenage obsession.  
But, Dino silently meditated while Squalo helped him get off the bed without killing himself, usually an old teenage crush carries with itself some remains of bitter remorse, a badly hidden unhappiness that sweetens every small revenge. Instead, in their intercourse there had been just a pale trace of regret for how things could have been if they both hadn't been trapped in their own lives; there was the certainty that in a world where the mafia, if it existed, didn't bother them, they could have loved each other until their last day, and also the certainty that in still another world they would meet, love and cared about each other without feeling the need of entering the other's body.  
And now, it seemed to Dino they had sealed in that very moment both worlds: they had loved each other a lot, but from now on they had the opportunity for a new beginning and the determination to do that for real, with no remorse left to haunt them.  
-VOI. You ok?- Squalo asked. Here it was again, that tiny streak of tenderness.  
-Yeah. You?  
-Good.- Dino gave Squalo a bunch of paper towels and the swordsman used them to clean himself; there was no clumsiness in his movements, despite the missing hands, and his practical gestures sounded like one last stone on the tomb of their love.  
-May I tell you one thing? But don't get me wrong.- Dino said in a low voice, crumpling his soaked t-shirt; the sweatshirt was only wet on the sleeve, and the blond put it on.  
Squalo nodded towards him; his eyelids were swollen, ready to close: the effort must have been heavy to him, in his conditions.  
-I think I'll love you forever, after all.- Dino confessed. He hesitated, then opened his mouth to explain himself better, to clarify he didn't mean it in a sexual way or in terms of possession, that simply he would have kept a special place for him in his heart, while being at peace and not willing to change anything or to chase him. And to make it clear that if Xanxus would decide to reciprocate Squalo's feeling, which were clear and unquestionable, he wouldn't make a move or try to influence him in any way, but he couldn't find the word to state all of this aloud.  
Anyway, Squalo seemed to understand: -VOI! But I'll always love you too, Dino.- he said, then he closed his eyes. Dino checked his vital signs, saw that they were alright, then moved the chair in front of the radiator to allow his sleeve to dry and prepared himself for a serene vigilance.

Xanxus had played the angry one at the sight of Squalo, but a spark in his eyes had told everything about how glad he was to be seeing him still alive.  
While Dino's Guardians took care of Tsuna, who had fainted for the effort at the end of the battle, Dino went to Xanxus, ignoring Romario's protests about it being potentially dangerous.  
-Scum.- Xanxus greeted Squalo, his eyes sad and tired but shining.  
-VOI! I always knew you were a loser!- Squalo answered. Dino, without saying a word, turned the wheelchair so that Xanxus could take its handles, then waved goodbye: -See you next time, Superbi Squalo.- he heard his voice and got the serenity in it, and with the corner of his eye he saw the slender silhouette of Hibari Kyoya, standing back lit against the splendor of the dawn, looking towards him.  
-See you, Dino. Take care.- Squalo said back, while Xanxus pulled back his wheelchair with an irate gesture. Dino smiled and stepped towards his pupil. He didn't know what he would say, if they would kiss or fight, but that radiant rising sun seemed to be full of promises and somehow pure, like the air in a sunny summer morning after storms had been cleaning it for the whole night.  
-Hey, Bronco.- Xanxus' voice called him back. Dino didn't turn around, but stopped and nodded to signal he was listening. -Thank you.- Xanxus muttered, then left, making the gravel screech under his masterful steps.  
Dino took a deep breath and thought that yes, that was a new dawn.

“She simply lived  
with his face in her heart all the time,  
a kind of sweet, hurtful ache.”  
Stephen King, IT

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so to me Dino and Squalo has been lovers. I mean, that's a thing no one could get out of my head, and I ship them heavily... but only in the past LOL because, you know, Xanxus, Hibari.......  
> I love Dino to death, and I wanted to assure him an ending that let him with no regrets whatsoever.  
> If you liked this, please let me know, and thank you to everyone who got this far!  
> XOXO


End file.
